


Ruined

by flootzavut



Series: O Week [1]
Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: CUverse, College AU, F/F, I mean why wouldn't I ship the two most awesome women, Oops I femmeslashed, Peg & DP, Romance, queer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 21:19:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15916455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flootzavut/pseuds/flootzavut
Summary: Peg meets Donna.(Set in the same 'verse asOrientation (College and Otherwise).)





	Ruined

**Author's Note:**

  * For [onekisstotakewithme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/onekisstotakewithme/gifts), [shewho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewho/gifts).



> My partners in crime ♥️
> 
> So Peg turned up unexpectedly in an "Orientation (College and Otherwise)" story, and I had an idea, which I shared, and whoops, it turned out it has legs. ~~Also I was aided and abetted...~~ This series is effectively a prequel to 'Orientation', set in the same AU but a year earlier, and there will (probably?) be some stories that appear in both verses, but insofar as there's a plan, the plan is that both series should stand alone just fine.

* * *

_**Ruined**_

* * *

 

Peg can't help staring.

She always knew she liked girls, never had a doubt, even before she understood what that meant. But she never saw a girl who looked like that.

Maybe it's because this isn't a girl but a young woman, with beautiful eyes and high cheekbones, an easy smile and a rippling laugh.

It's a freshman mixer, but if this woman is a freshman, Peg is Queen of England. The woman wanders the room, greeting friends with cheek kisses and blessing freshmen with smiles and shoulder-touches, and several of Peg's fellow coeds are watching her wide-eyed, not to mention the boys.

She floats gracefully from one group to another, and Peg's heart beats faster and faster the closer she gets.

Peg excuses herself from the knot of girls she's standing with, and retreats to a couch with her solo cup of 'punch'. She can't make conversation and be a bundle of nerves at the same time - she doesn't have the stomach for it. Taking a moment to just breathe will, she thinks, help. (She sets her cup down on the coffee table untouched. Alcohol, she's certain, will  _not_  help.)

Just when she's starting to feel normal again, someone drops down beside her on the couch. She looks up, and the beautiful girl is there right beside her, smiling, body turned towards Peg.

Her mouth goes dry. "H-hi."

"Hello, my dear. Are you having fun?" She pauses, and when Peg doesn't answer, she tugs playfully on Peg's ponytail. "Oh, now look at you," the girl - woman - says. "Fresh out of California, unless I'm much mistaken."

Peg blushes, but her voice is steady when she finally manages to speak. "Oregon, actually," she corrects, then adds, "by way of San Diego."

The woman laughs, throwing her head back, and Peggy stares at her throat and wants to touch - to kiss. "Oh, full of sass. I'm Donna, and  _you_  are utterly  _charming_ ," Donna says. "I like you already."

That makes Peg blush even harder, and smile, and look down at her feet.

She's helpless as a rabbit in headlights when Donna brushes the back of one finger down her jawline, then gently tugs on her chin, tilting her head up till she has no choice but to look at Donna or close her eyes.

"What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Peggy Jane Hayden," Peg forces out, then cringes, because who in the world gives their full name at a freshman ice-breaker?

But Donna just laughs again, touches Peg's lip with her thumb, then says, "Donna Marie Parker, my dear. It's a pleasure to meet you, Peggy Jane."

 _Oh, no_. Peggy has been in this town all of five minutes, and she's already ruined.

Donna chuckles at Peg's speechlessness, then relaxes back into the corner of the couch. "So, are you finding this party insufferable or merely mildly tedious?"

Peg lets out her breath on a relieved laugh. "Somewhere in between?"

Donna smiles. "The first parties of a new semester are always terrible, don't worry. You'll find your people soon enough." She looks Peg up and down. "I dare say you'll be beating fellas off with a stick, too."

 _Help_. This is Peg's chance to establish herself as queer and proud, but her throat has closed up again. "Um," she manages. "I hope not." It comes out much quieter and less definite than she meant it to.

Donna raises one elegant eyebrow. "Oh? Concentrating on your studies, or...?"

Peg blushes again. "I- uh..." So much for impressing anybody with her wit and charm, so much for telling this woman she's so much more interesting than any man could ever be. "Um. Or. Both?"

"Oh, I  _see_ ," Donna says, and Peg's heart is drumming so hard, she wonders if Donna can hear it.

Does Donna really see? Does she just mean that she got the message, or does she...  _understand_?

"Well, that's good. There can't be too many of us around the place. It does get dull, otherwise."

Peg isn't completely sure whether Donna's saying what Peg hopes she's saying, but it's close enough to be a comfort, even if it's nothing more.

Donna pats her knee. "You stick with Donna, Peggy dear. I'll look out for you."

Peg is definitely ruined, but it's an offer she has no desire to refuse. "Thank you," she says.

"It's my pleasure." Donna sits up. "Now, let's grab a couple of your friends, leave this train wreck of a party to the dolts, and find some pizza, what do you say?"

Peg would much rather drink a bottle of wine with Donna, alone, but she thinks that admitting that would be rather... forward, and pizza with this woman would definitely be a step up from how the evening has gone so far. "I'd love to," she says. If she's already ruined, she might as well enjoy the ride.

_~ fin ~_


End file.
